Spanish Judge calls for architects of
http://urlsnip.com/509872
By Vicky Short
27 March 2007
Baltasar Garzón, the Spanish judge who sought to prosecute Chilean dictator General Augusto Pinochet, has called for US President George W. Bush and his allies to be tried for war crimes over
Writing in El Pais on the fourth anniversary of the invasion, Garzón stated, “Today, March 20, marks four years since the formal start of the war on
“Breaking every international law, and under the pretext of the war against terror, there has taken place since 2003 a devastating attack on the rule of law and against the very essence of the international community. In its path, institutions such as the United Nations were left in tatters, from which it has not yet recovered.”
“Instead of commemorating the war,” Garzón continues, “we should be horrified, screaming and demonstrating against the present massacre created as a consequence of that war.”
He then writes that George W. Bush and his allies should eventually face war crimes charges for their actions in
“For many it would be merely a question of political responsibility, but judicial actions in the
“There is enough of an argument in 650,000 deaths for this investigation and inquiry to start without more delay,” he added.
Garzón then turns his scathing criticisms towards the former Spanish Prime Minister, José María Aznar, who followed British Prime Minister Tony Blair in supporting Bush’s war of aggression against Iraq.
“Those who joined the
Aznar still defends the invasion of
Garzón answers this in his article: “If he didn’t know enough, he should be asked why he didn’t act prudently, giving United Nations inspectors more leeway instead of doing the opposite in total submission and fidelity to President Bush.”
Fearful of the extension of the insurgency in Iraq throughout the Middle East and internationally, Garzón declares that “the North American bellicose action, and that of those who supported it, has determined or at least has contributed to the creation, development and consolidation of the biggest terrorist training camp in the world.... In some way, with a terrible lack of awareness, we have been and are helping this monster grow more and more and strengthened by the minute, so that it is probably invincible.”
Garzón has investigated everything from Basque terrorism to the March 11, 2004
Back in 1996 the Progressive Union of Prosecutors filed criminal complaints against the Argentine and Chilean military for the disappearance of Spanish citizens under the dictatorships that ruled them in the 1970s and 1980s. One year later, Garzón issued an arrest order that included Argentine Navy Captain Adolfo Scilingo, who made a televised confession in 1995 of “death flights” in which hundreds of detainees were thrown from airplanes to their deaths in the
Former Chilean President Pinochet was arrested during a medical check-up in
The fact that such a prominent international judicial figure openly speaks of bringing war crimes judgement against the leaders of the
Yet his statement was given only the most cursory coverage by the media in the
Such is the level of hostility to the
Reporting on their criticism, the right-wing newspaper El Mundo commented on March 20, “The PP should not continue avoiding an auto-criticism on
It continues that, although the present critics were in the main opposed to sending troops to
A few hours after the El Pais article by Garzón had reached the shops, the secretary of organisation for the PSOE, José Blanco, declared in an interview in Telecinco that someone had to pay the consequences for the decision to invade
See Also:
For an international mobilization of workers and youth against the war in Iraq [22 January 2007]
Eric Hobsbawm on the Spanish Civil War: an anti-historical tirade
[16 March 2007]
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